Sun Clarifies on the G1 Garbage Collector Licensing Controversy

A couple of days ago InfoQ posted an article about the fact that the release notes for G1 in the latest Java update, mandated that it was to be used in production only by organizations with a Sun support contract. Following the debate and the reactions that where raised in the community, Sun has explicitly updated the release notes and has removed the controversial clause.

Our bad. So we made the notes clearer, because you don't need to do anything special to try it out. Unless you want your kinks fixed before everyone else gets the fixes either in the next update or in JDK 7. In which case, there is nice little program waiting just for you :)

Comparing the two versions of the release notes, it seems that Sun has changed the sentences:

Although G1 is available for use in this release, note that production use of G1 is only permitted where a Java support contract has been purchased. G1 is supported thru Sun's Java Platform Standard Edition for Business program.

With:

G1 is available as early access in this release, please try it and give us feedback. Usage in production settings without a Java SE for Business support contract is not recommended.